The damning opening-night stat that could sink the Cowboys in NFL Kickoff vs. Eagles

The Dallas Cowboys are kicking off the new NFL season without Micah Parsons, and the outlook could not be much bleaker. Parsons’ departure weakens a defense that was already shaky, and now Dallas has to open the year on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions.

A stat stacked against Dallas

As if Parsons’ absence was not enough, there is a brutal trend working against the Cowboys. Of the last 10 Super Bowl champions, only three failed to win their opening game the following season.

In 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs were stunned 21-20 by the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead, one of the biggest shocks of the year. The season before, the Buffalo Bills blew out the Los Angeles Rams 31-10 in their opener. Back in 2017, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs thrashed Tom Brady’s New England Patriots 42-27 in Foxborough.

That means reigning champs have gone 7-3 in season openers over the past decade. The Eagles will be aiming to keep that winning record intact.

Defensive gap between rivals

That trend alone is daunting for Dallas, but the numbers tilt even further in Philadelphia’s favor. Last season the Eagles allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL at 18.1. The Cowboys ranked second worst, giving up 27.5 per contest, better only than the Carolina Panthers.

Eagles ground game adds more trouble

With Saquon Barkley now in the backfield, Philadelphia also boasts one of the league’s most dangerous rushing attacks. They finished second in rushing yards per game last year, behind only the Baltimore Ravens.

History in Philadelphia is not on the Cowboys’ side either. Dallas has won just one of its last six games at Lincoln Financial Field. That lone victory came in Week 18 of the 2021 season when Gardner Minshew was starting at quarterback for the Eagles. The Cowboys rolled 51-26 as Dak Prescott threw for 295 yards and five touchdowns.

A lot has changed since then, and little of it favors Dallas heading into Thursday’s Kickoff.

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